Rabobank Launches Mobile Wallet Service

Rabobank, a Dutch financial institution, has launched its own NFC-based mobile wallet for customers using the Samsung (News - Alert) Galaxy S4 and Samsung Note 3 smartphones. The service - called Rabo Wallet - is the primary component of a fully-featured banking app now available in the Google (News - Alert) Play Store.

Rabo Wallet is built upon a mobile application platform called Convego AppWorld provided by the German technology firm Gieseck & Devrient (G&D). This solution ensures top-notch security for mobile payments by using G&D’s Trusted Service Management (TSM) service, which in turn is connected to Samsung’s provisioning solution so service providers can transmit sensitive data to the Embedded Secure Element of Samsung smartphones and continually update it with personalized user data.

In addition to making NFC-based payments at contactless terminals in many retail or restaurant locations throughout the Netherlands, customers can also use the new app for many other functions such as checking bank balances, storing loyalty cards and redeeming digital coupons. Furthermore, G&D provided Rabobank and its partners with the Convego AppWorld software development kit (SDK) to enable the simple creation of expanded offerings to be delivered via G&D’s remote managed services.

“Today, G&D is a market leader in the field of user-friendly and highly secure mobile apps,” commenteEdgar Salib, Group Senior Vice President and Head of the Financial Institutions division at G&D. “We are delighted that with our Convego AppWorld end-to-end solution we have been able to support the launch of the Rabo Wallet to the satisfaction of Rabobank.”

Rabo Wallet has an extra security feature that requires users to set an MPIN, which they must enter in order to make general payments of at least € 25, or € 50 for parking and € 100 for toll roads. The MPIN is a completely separate code from the ones used for bank cards, accessing the Rabo Banking App or the Rabofoon phone-based banking system.

The new banking app with the mobile wallet service is currently available to those using the aforementioned smartphone models, and Rabobank plans to add support for other phones as soon as possible. The service costs nothing extra beyond the usual fees involved with using mobile data and carrying out transactions.